Context: The digital shift
The digital revolution that the world has been witnessing has also reached the arts and culture sector. The COVID-19 pandemic further pushed for a digital shift in the sector. Indeed, the lockdown regulations forced museums to come up with innovative ways to engage and interact with the public. The digital means were the only alternative option that complied with the social distancing rules. Effectively, this led to rapid digitalisation of the entire sector, which in turn generated unprecedented opportunities (Julia’s Bicycle, 2022). The transition to digital has resulted in a huge range of benefits for museums on both the social and economic levels, from integrating advanced technologies to enabling greater operating efficiencies and higher reach.
The consequences of digitisation
This digitisation shift is not without its cost.
In the last couple of decades, and in response to the growing environmental issues, awareness of environmental impacts has been the centre of attention in all sectors. Numerous actions and initiatives to reduce the negative impact of human activity on the planet have been taken: recycling, biking instead of driving, reducing paper usage, avoiding plastic, and switching to electric cars, etc.
Digitising daily activities was repeatedly presented as an impactful, environmentally friendly practice. However, this assumption proved to be misleading. As the world increasingly embraced digital transformation, the significantly growing environmental impacts that came with it started to emerge. Given the largely invisible nature of the digital activities we undertake daily, most of us are unaware of the pollution generated by our technological and online activities. In reality, every click of a button, every link and website we check leaves an impact.
With the increasing use of digital tools in the museum sector, especially for the purpose of designing more accessible and inclusive options, it is important for museum professionals to consider and evaluate the environmental costs of their digital practices to guide the making of environmentally enlightened and informed decisions. As museums increasingly embrace digital tools, this chapter will attempt to propose answers to the following key question: How can we preserve the benefits of digital transformation in the museum sector while preventing the negative consequences that arise from it?